Stuck in Neutral: Economic Gains Stall Out for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in 2000s

Briefing Paper #228

There is a common misperception that Asian Americans are the “model minority”—able to succeed under any conditions. But recent economic data suggest that Asian Americans, like everyone else, cannot advance when the beneﬁts of economic growth are concentrated among the wealthiest Americans as they have been for the last decade. The economic trends for Asian Americans and Paciﬁc Islanders from 2000 to 2007 were quite similar to that of other racial and ethnic groups. Like white, Hispanic, and African Americans, Asians and Paciﬁc Islanders saw no signiﬁcant economic progress.

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